Six friends dined at the hippest, chic-est restaurant in White Rock, B.C. last Wednesday night, Pearl. They ordered a bottle of wine. The waitress brought the bottle and proceeded to dump giant pours into each glass, emptying the bottle after three glasses. To the fourth guy she said, "Guess you'll have to order another."

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Jenise wrote:Six friends dined at the hippest, chic-est restaurant in White Rock, B.C. last Wednesday night, Pearl. They ordered a bottle of wine. The waitress brought the bottle and proceeded to dump giant pours into each glass, emptying the bottle after three glasses. To the fourth guy she said, "Guess you'll have to order another."

Jenise, do you know what the reaction of the diners were? Actually I am at a loss to even have an idea of what I would have done. If this were an expensive bottle, I might would have though to have shared the glasses poured with the 4th person, and then asked for the manager. Or maybe asked for the manager then with him/her present have shared. As you and many others here know that I am not particularly shy about voicing an opinion, but this one may have stunned me to silence...for a while.

Redwinger wrote:If she did that to me, she'd have to look for a gratuity from another table. Inexcusable, and her flip comment was waaay inappropriate.Wm

No, it's worse than that: the comment wasn't flip. She was serious. She had no idea she'd overpoured. My friends surmised that it was her first day on the job with zero training, but they didn't get that confirmed.

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Bob Henrick wrote:Jenise, do you know what the reaction of the diners were? Actually I am at a loss to even have an idea of what I would have done. If this were an expensive bottle, I might would have though to have shared the glasses poured with the 4th person, and then asked for the manager. Or maybe asked for the manager then with him/her present have shared. As you and many others here know that I am not particularly shy about voicing an opinion, but this one may have stunned me to silence...for a while.

Actually, I don't, but Don who was sharing this story is neither shy nor tolerant of ineptness, and I know they told me that the owner (whom one of the couples know) left for home about when they arrived, so they probably attempted to complain, but I don't know the outcome. This story, told last night at a small dinner party, spawned a spate of restaurant tales and we never got back to this one.

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Wasn't anybody watching the waitress? They try to do that to us all the time but Lynn is waiting like a cat to pounce. The second it apparent that the pour might go on, she shouts "Stop!" with an accompanying "cut" gesture, then continues gently with a smile that we like small pours, as if it is our idiosyncrasy, and will pour our own from that point.

The only instance I can think of to challenge the ineptitude you relate was the waitress who poured Lynn a glass of red wine and then with the butt of the bottle knocked the glass into her lap. White dress.

Wasn't anybody watching the waitress? They try to do that to us all the time but Lynn is waiting like a cat to pounce. The second it apparent that the pour might go on, she shouts "Stop!" with an accompanying "cut" gesture, then continues gently with a smile that we like small pours, as if it is our idiosyncrasy, and will pour our own from that point.

The only instance I can think of to challenge the ineptitude you relate was the waitress who poured Lynn a glass of red wine and then with the butt of the bottle knocked the glass into her lap. White dress.

Covert

Ouch! You remind me of something that happened to us not that long ago, within the past year maybe...wine dinner in a restuarant, lots of interesting bottles. Our young male waiter attempted to top up glasses with a new and different bottle of wine than what was in them. And he knew they were different--just had no idea that would be a problem!

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Jenise wrote:Ouch! You remind me of something that happened to us not that long ago, within the past year maybe...wine dinner in a restuarant, lots of interesting bottles. Our young male waiter attempted to top up glasses with a new and different bottle of wine than what was in them. And he knew they were different--just had no idea that would be a problem!

Yikes! That hurts even to think about. The only solution is to take the function out of their hands from the start.

After the first glass was being filled, the diners should have seen what was coming. They have a responsibility to themselves that outweighs deference to the server. They should have stopped the server during the first pour and directed the proper amount per glass. Since they let this go on for 3 glasses, they got what they deserved.

Bernard Roth wrote:After the first glass was being filled, the diners should have seen what was coming. They have a responsibility to themselves that outweighs deference to the server. They should have stopped the server during the first pour and directed the proper amount per glass. Since they let this go on for 3 glasses, they got what they deserved.

Got what they deserved? Bernie, sometimes you leave me at a loss for words. Listen--I won't be put in the position of defending my friends to you, but honestly, I doubt they were sitting there solemnly watching the wine being poured but were bubbling away catching up on each other's news and only noticed the problem about the time it was too late. I can see myself in that same situation quite easily.

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Jenise wrote:My friends surmised that it was her first day on the job with zero training, but they didn't get that confirmed.

This sounds like the sort of situation where forgiveness might be called for.

Well, of course; she was neither trained nor possessing common sense and that's a management problem. But it was still funny.

The story is absolutely delicious! How boring would life be if everything turned out right or as we expected? I'm with Nathan here. I probably would have tried to broach the subject with her delicately. I mean who knows where her head was at and why. To err is human ... *

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------* ... said the hedgehog as he disengaged himself from the the toilet brush.

I've never actually been to White Rock, though I've seen it from Blaine. The "hippest restaurant in White Rock" is probably hipper than Blaine's hippest, yet I don't think I'd expect quite such a Parisian level of ineptitude.

Jenise, get a grip. If you can see yourself falling for the same slipshod treatment, where have the years of wine education gotten you? At some point we have to take responsibility for not letting ourselves get treated like saps. And this is a lesson we learn early in life when the cake is being portioned or a candy bar divided. We know when the outcome is going to be unequal and we are trained to stop it. Why did your friends bite their tongues and sit on their hands?

It's not like it is the end of the world. They could easily have poured wine from their filled glasses into the empty ones so everyone gets a fair pour.

On the other side of the coin, I have attended a dinner at which a diner complained about how little wine he received in a perfectly appropriate pour. "Keep it comin'" was his comment as the waiter tried to finish his pour. The inept and uncouth rule the earth.

Sam

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are a small matter compared to what lies within us" -Emerson

Bernard Roth wrote:Why did your friends bite their tongues and sit on their hands?

Why do you assume they were biting their tongues and sitting on their hands? As it was told to me, no one noticed until it was too late. [/quote]

It's not like it is the end of the world.

Who said it was? My friends told me about it because they thought it was funny. I posted it here because I thought it was funny. You're supposed to laugh, not sit in judgement of people you don't know based on worst-case assumptions. Lighten up, man!

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Wine service is a 'thing' with me. I long ago got sick of waiters hovering around wanting to pour the wine, usually so they can sell you another bottle when this sort of thing happens..

I now tell them to uncork it, put it on the table and then leave it alone, that I will pour it myself. I had one restaurant tell me it was illegal for them to do that (it isn't). I told him he'd better stick the cork back in it as I wasn't paying for it in that case. It took the maitre d' to sort that one out and tell the waiter he was in error.

The one time I had an issue like this was in a restaurant in Texas & after 2 pours the waiter got about a half glass into the third when the bottle ran out. I called over the manager & they paid for a second bottle.

It's completely inexcusable service, and customers should not have to hover over the waitstaff's actions. If I wanted to do that I would eat at home where I am in total control.

Bernie - is it also the responsibility of the diner to watch the cook to make sure he does not over/underseason the food or creates exactly equal portions for each diner? Proper wine service is mandatory and should be automatic, especially given the prices that are paid for wine in restaurants.

There behind the glass lies a real blade of grass. Be careful as you pass. Move along. Move along.